PALM BEACH GARDENS - Any PGA Tour rookie dreams of a birdie-birdie finish to win.
Considering all the places Todd Hamilton has been, and how long it took him to get here, Sunday at the Honda Classic felt like a fantasy.
After blowing a four-shot lead, Hamilton recovered with a 10-foot birdie to regain a share of the lead, then finished off Davis Love with an 8-iron to 4 feet on the 18th.
"This is a dream come true," said Hamilton, who closed with 2-over 74. "There's probably a lot of other golfers who deserve it more talent-wise, but I guarantee you no one will appreciate it more than I will."
Not many others have spent 17 years just trying to reach the PGA Tour. Hamilton spent a dozen years toiling in Asia, playing everywhere from Pakistan to Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, and went through tour qualifying eight times before he got his card in December.
Hamilton, who finished 12-under 276, earned $900,000, almost as much as his best year in Japan, and a two-year exemption on tour. He should move into the top 50 in the world and qualify for the Masters.
"Until I got my tour card, I always doubted something like this would happen," he said. "I don't think it's sunk in."
Love (69), who played in college against Hamilton and was trying for his 19th tour win, was runnerup a second straight year. "He finished like a true champion and birdied those last two holes when he knew he had to do it," Love said. "It's a great, great story."
Love lost a final-round lead last year to Justin Leonard. This time, Love played mistake-free down the stretch, taking the lead with a lag putt from a deep swale off the 17th, then saved par on the 18th.
LPGA TOUR: Karen Stupples stretched a one-shot lead with six holes left into a five-shot victory over Grace Park and Jung Yeon Lee in the Welch's/Fry's Championship in Tucson, Ariz. On the way to her first tour title, she shot the best 72-hole score in LPGA history, closing with 7-under 63 to finish 22-under 258.
"It's unbelievable," said Stupples, whose best finish in five years on tour was a tie for third.
Stupples, who topped Wendy Doolan's 259 set last year, eagled the 13th to pull away. Park, sixth, third and fourth in Tucson the past three years, shot 67, but bogeyed the 18th to tie Lee (66).
Laura Davies (71), who began the round tied with Park one shot behind Stupples, tied Shi Hyun Ahn (63) and Bradenton's Aree Song (67) at 267.
Stupples' 30-foot eagle on No. 13 got her to 21 under - good for a three-stroke lead - and made the finish a breeze. After birdie at No. 16, she approached the 18th fighting tears, a battle she lost after holing an 8-foot putt to save par and match her best 18-hole score, set Thursday in the first round.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Gil Morgan won the SBC Classic for the third time, closing with 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over Larry Nelson in Santa Clarita, Calif. Morgan has 23 victories on the tour to tie Bob Charles for fourth on the career list.
Morgan finished 14-under 202. Nelson eagled the 18th for his third straight 68, and tour newcomer Peter Jacobsen (67) was third at 11 under. Morgan played solid the first eight holes, making birdie on the third hole and seven pars. He then reeled off birdies on Nos. 9-11 for a five-stroke lead.
FUTURES TOUR: Seminole's Brittany Lincicome tied for 11th (70-71-75-216) at the event in Lakeland, 11 shots behind champion Kimberly Adams of New Brunswick. Brooksville's Kelly Lagedrost (221) tied for 35th, Clearwater's Jenny Gleason (222) 42nd and Lakeland's Jan Kleiman (226) 60th.
EUROPEAN PGA: Sweden's Joakim Haeggman shot 7-under 65 for a one-shot victory over Japan's Nobuhito Sato (68) at the Qatar Masters in Doha. Haeggman finished 16-under 272 for his third win on tour. Third-round co-leader Raphael Jacquelin tied England's Brian Davis and Spain's Jose Manual Lara at 14 under.
